4 Motorcyclists dead in SoCal, and they can't find the guy who killed them

[Michael]

The guy who caused the accident fled the scene and the only description that they have of him is that he was wearing a hat.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/7294084.html

[factorPlayer]

Sad, especially when it was preventable.

[Randy@StradaFab]

   I know this is going to sound insensitive, but I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. In my area there are always large groups of Harley riders touring Route 66. They are always going way under the speed limit with a line of cars behind them. It's no excuse but nobody wants to be stuck behind a group of Harleys doin 45 in a 65.

[WetDuc]

Ouch.
Not the comment, the event.

[Porsche Monkey]

This definitely sucks. Very sad to hear. I'm suprised none of the other riders went after the Honda. Just get the plate or something.  very sad.

[fasterblkduc]

   I know this is going to sound insensitive, but I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. In my area there are always large groups of Harley riders touring Route 66. They are always going way under the speed limit with a line of cars behind them. It's no excuse but nobody wants to be stuck behind a group of Harleys doin 45 in a 65.

I'll add to that line of thinking. I was not there but can only imagine that this was a group of bikers not only slowing traffic but riding in a tight pack that does not allow room to take evasive maneuvers such as, adequate stopping distance. In other words, they are like motorized bowling pins that are just one incident away from a multi bike crash.
It's frustrating to see groups of riders riding in tight, non staggered packs, usually wearing little to no gear, and in this case on big heavy bikes that can't turn or stop. When you are on a big machine like this, you are more vulnerable to the hazards on the road, so you should be taking extra precautions to compensate for your bike's reduced ability to stop or turn. (in this case they were on cruisers)

I almost lost a friend this year because he was riding with a group when a van u-turned in front of them. He impacted the van and the next bike was far enough back that they were able to brake hard, and swerve around the van missing it by inches. My friend was airlifted to Mayo, where they took a couple of weeks trying to put him back together. He was fortunate that there was a nurse and county cop on the scene when it happened. it was ugly and he almost died but no other bikes crashed because they rode staggered, and spaced.

The idiot that caused this crash is a piece of shit and I hope that they catch him, and I'm not saying anyone deserved to crash or lose their life. I am saying however, I have a hard time feeling sympathy for people that don't reduce their odds of getting injured or killed...no matter what kind of bike, car, truck, airplane, etc. that they may be in control of. It's dangerous on public roads folks...reduce your odds of being a victim of someone else's mistakes. I see groups of bikes doing this all the time, and I hate to see it. You should never be in a position that you can not stop in time to hit the bike(s) in front of you.

This is tragic news and I feel for their families/loved ones.

[muskrat]

there is no way for anyone to arm chair quarterback this event, not with those details in the article. I ride with both slow and faster than hell people and I've seen more potential incidents with the "speeders" driving recklessly and passing on blind turns and hills.  This was preventable and I hope the driver that sped away is caught and dealt with accordingly.  This is simply senseless.

[fasterblkduc]

there is no way for anyone to arm chair quarterback this event, not with those details in the article. I ride with both slow and faster than hell people and I've seen more potential incidents with the "speeders" driving recklessly and passing on blind turns and hills.  This was preventable and I hope the driver that sped away is caught and dealt with accordingly.  This is simply senseless.

Bottom line is...if you are a group of bikes that pile up, you were riding too close.

[Heath]

Bottom line is...if you are a group of bikes that pile up, you were riding too close.

If a car traveling the other direction towards you looses control I don't think it matters how close you are together.  If your going 60 and they are crashing at even just 40.  100mph is a pretty fast speed to try to react.

[Pedro-bot]

there is no way for anyone to arm chair quarterback this event, not with those details in the article. <SNIP> This is simply senseless.

+1.  What he said.  ^^

Tragic. RIP to the dead and God speed to those injured.

[Raux]

well I'm going to profile here.

The highway has heavily traffic to and from Mexico.
Gold Honda
thinking illegal not wanting to stop caused this accident
good as gone over the border

[Privateer]

sad story.

Lot of comments in the intertubes about how the bikers were following too closely or whatever.  There are only a few people who know how they were riding and I've yet to see a comment from one of them.  At 100+ closing speed, it's not going to matter much if you're staggered or parade formation.

[krolik]

I'll add to that line of thinking. I was not there but can only imagine that this was a group of bikers not only slowing traffic but riding in a tight pack that does not allow room to take evasive maneuvers such as, adequate stopping distance. In other words, they are like motorized bowling pins that are just one incident away from a multi bike crash.

Last year there was a 26 bike pile up just south of Portland on I-5. A pack of Brother Speed riders were in a tight formation and when traffic stopped in front of them they had no room & time to avoid the pile up.

[Greg]

This definitely sucks. Very sad to hear. I'm surprised none of the other riders went after the Honda. Just get the plate or something. very sad.

Agreed - if I ever witness a similar event, and there are others to tend to the downed riders, I'll be getting the cars plate.

Condolences to all involved - very sad.

[Howie]

We do not know what happened, other than the idiot driving the Honda was at fault and guilty of hit and run.  I've seen large packs of Harleys riding too slow and not allowing  others to pass.  I've also seen groups of Harleys riding at sensible speeds in a proper stagger and even yield to single file in the right of the lane when a vehicle wants to pass.  Some groups of sport riders have their own style of irresponsible riding.  

The other day I was going down a side street at the speed limit or a little above.  I was not far from the next intersection when a car passed me over the double yellow to make a right turn in front of me.  Obviously, I had sufficient time to brake, but still, WTF!

What we must keep in mind is usually when bike meets car, bike looses.  Be careful out there